Number 7

 

 

Number 7

We need a bit more than thirty points to get to Number 7 today. But after this spot, the jumps in points get much bigger. Huge in fact. Also huge is the amount of great releases by Ripple Music, we already mentioned that fact, but yes, the album we find on Number 7 was once again a Ripple release. Insane! And it was one of the first of the year and perhaps logically landed on the Number 1 spot of the January Doom Charts. They hail from the UK and channel that spirit you know so well from the nineties alternative scene and the grunge that was prevalent. And they sort it all out through a heavy, fuzz drenched, stoner lens. Turning it into a feral, atavistic and groove ridden stonerrock beauty. Quintessential stonerrock in fact! Packed with chunky live-wired riffs, cool clean vocals and moody psychedelics atmospheres, the album feels raw, authentic and irresistibly catchy. They balance smoke soaked heaviness with fluid hooks and bluesy melody. It's familiar yet fresh, comforting yet ferocious. A gust of wind through the stoner rock hallways, a healing, a hypnotic trip that feels instantly like home… A refuge for the beautifully damaged… 

 

On Number 7 we find:

 

DUNES – LAND OF THE BLIND

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Number 7

 

 

Number 7

Another big jump today. A 146 points from Black Pyramid on Number 8 to reach Number 7. Where we find a band that made last years Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown as well. And not just once. Nope, twice. One of their albums reached Number 14 and the other one, a collaborative one, came in at Number 19. They are an industrious bunch, cause back in 2020 they reached Number 13. Rife with psychedelic swirls, their progressive doom soars and pulls you along their maelstrom of magnificent riffs and almost shoegaze atmospherics. Giving the album so much soul and mysterious energy. Soaring, gliding, swimming, through this viscose sound mixture that moves the spirit and moves every fiber of your being. Just like that album from last year, for they are linked and show us a band that have gone through a lot of intense experiences together and have come out on the other side with a knowledge of more. For there’s sorcery going on here, rain stick alchemy and perhaps even more ancient magic…

According to all of your votes, on Number 7 we find: 

Rezn – Burden

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Sargent House

Number 7

 

 

Number 7

A smaller jump of only twenty points today. We leave those fuzzed out stoner boogie superheroes called Black Rainbows on Number 8 to reach Number 7. Where we find the perfect reason to drink the Kool-Aid and join a proto doom cult! That is of course your first take and your first dip into the acid-soaked warm tub brought to you by this UK trio. And that obvious feral catchiness of something slightly occult and dripping with blood served on that first track, gets stomped by the fierce and high energy propellent that follows. And that’s where these boys seem to live, seem to fester like dream, somewhere in the middle between classic sounding proto doom, psychedelic meandering, stoner riffage and fast paced fuzz! And this is their debut album, the start of a cult, that will be grow into gigantic proportions before you can mix your favorite cocktail or get to that great sing-along part of that one Karma To Burn song… You know! 20!

On Number 7 we find…



Margarita Witch Cult - Margarita Witch Cult


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Heavy Psych Sounds

Number 7

 

Number 7

 

It’s time for Number 7! And to get to Number 7, we jump only nine points from Steak at Number 8. A lot of bands and their albums were close together this year, well, at certain points in the list that is, but spilling the beans a little, the Top 5 will make bigger jumps in points. Well, sort off. Anyway, the band we find on Number 7 has been making the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown back in 2011 & 2015. And we really thought we mentioned their new album on the HiVe when it was release in September. But we just realized we did not. It’s their sixth full length and brings you all that golden bluesy hardrock, that propelling groove and that pulsating stonerrock we’ve come to love from these crazy Virginia Beach four. A bit of Sabbath and a whole lot of Ozzy, thanks to the pitch and energy of the vocals. And then there’s that proto touch, that seventies love, it’s smash ‘n grab, take all you can from all the heavy rock genres you love kind of thing. And that makes this album one hell of a ride! On Number 7 we find!

 

Freedom Hawk – Take All You Can

 

 

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 On to Number 6!

Number 8

 

 

Number 8

From Psychlona at Number 9 we jump a mere six points to reach Number 8. Another album we did mention on the HiVe earlier in the year. Back in May we immediately thought that the scope of this album made it one hell of tour de force. Which might start off straightforward, easy and simple, but even then you feel this new album will become something larger than all of the records they produced before. For some strange and possible insane reason, you immediately feel the tracks will build and there’s an arc present underneath it all and that you will only be able to truly stand back and appreciate all you’ve heard when those final tones of the final track die away… Making more use of width, length and air to let it all breathe. Just listen to the opening track and listen minutely to the sparse, yet with golden thread written arrangement, the seemingly easy transitions into bridges, choruses and the way it all floats and lets so much of it just ‘hang’… Exquisite!  They were a good, tasty, meaty, and fun band before. But with this album, the band turns into premium class, high grade, with the very best of marbling, Japanese Kobe beef. Which, as it happens, will go great with their album cover, the Mad Lord Samurai of 100 Deaths movie they provided the music for and a wild Comic book as well. I’m gonna stand back now and truly appreciate the magnitude of Number 8…

Steak – Acute Mania

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On to Number 7!

Number 7

 

 

Number 7

Yesterday, when we went crazy with Jointhugger on Number 8 we already mentioned that a bigger jump was coming up. Well, today we jump more than three hundred points to reach Number 7. A big leap indeed! But it actually sort of fits this beast! The beast made the list last year as well, it dropped on Number 18 back in 2020 and this one has picked up even more lumbering speed according to all your heavy music fiends that voted for it. For Number 7, 6 and 5 are very close together and they all looked at one point that they could even storm into the Top 3. But let’s get back to Number 7, which was released in March and trampled most albums as it stampeded into the March Doom Charts. Still that tried and tested Sabbath worshipping goodness, but with some many intense sludge moments, powerful doom trod, pounding drums, stomping riffs, that this hairy beast becomes unbearably delicious!  On Number 7 we find:

Acid Mammoth – Caravan 

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Number 7

 

 

Number 7

That Sun Crow album that was there on the first day of Christmas at Number 8 just a minute or two ago, gets dwarfed by almost a hundred and twenty points by the album we find on Number 7. An album, we must confess, we were pretty late to get hip to. The rest of Doom Chart Contributors were already grooving to this beast of an album and voting it up on the Doom Charts before it could grab us, pull us in an infect us with its mountainous riffs and rhythms. Intensely dynamic and continuously shifting color; the nine tracks on this album move from classic sounding hard rock and metal to stoner infused new day magnificence. Yes, for these guys its an effortlessly small step from the seventies psych, jam and blues to harmony and heavy trucking from the nineties. They’ve got their very own strange kind of magic and it will spellbind you and slowly infect you with its addictiveness. On Number 7 we find!

Bonehawk – Iron Mountain 

 

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Cursed Tongue Records

Number 7

Number 7

You might not want to believe it, with so many votes coming in, but we move only 1 point, yes 1 point from Arrowhead on Number 8 to reach the album on Number 7. These cats reached Number 20 of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown with their sophomore release two years ago and their bluesy sound has been capturing our souls and imagination even more this year. It's released on that wild Blues For The Red Sun label from Norway. And their sound has become even grimier, dirtier, nastier and more commanding. This is dark blues, doomed and destined for those souls that live in the shadows. The groove even mightier than before and the scorching riffs inflaming the gut, the intestines and every other organ it can reach. There is a flow to it all that just seems to continue throughout, whether on fast-paced moments or the overall languid tempo; that flow whips you into a frenzied state. And every one of those tracks will keep you intrigued with every new listening session; they just seem to morph into something you need at that right and particular moment in time, and you probably did not even know you needed it; whatever it may mean. Indeed, it’s wicked and it’s powerful. It’s heavy and it’s blues. On Number 7 it’s!

The Devil And The Almighty Blues – Tres

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Number 7

Number 7

On the second day of Christmas we move forwards towards Number 7 with a jump of almost twenty points once again. Leaving Weedpecker’s album III on Number 8 with a melancholy and woe dressed up as a hangover. But we shall return there. For sure. Just like we will keep returning to most of the albums we have already passed on this Top 20 Countdown. We thank all of you who voted once again, cause without you this thing would not be possible. We love doing this and we hope it shows. We also love the next album that we are going to visit now. The band has made the Countdown before. They reached Number 13 back in 2015 and Number 3 back in 2013. It’s a bit heavier than those albums, a bit muddier, a bit swampier, a bit grungier, but just as enchanting. They lure you in with seemingly effortless song structures and easy to ear doom; but once in their clutches they mesmerize you with melted edges of fuzz and eerie psychedelics. And there are those vocals, ethereal and it makes you see eternity… On Number 7 we find…   

Windhand – Eternal Return

Number 7

Number 7

That was the heavy Sasquatch lumbering around on Number 8. The seven spots that follow were on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown list from the moment the voting started. Changing positions, almost falling off, but never completely. That some of these albums ended up this high as they did, was a bit of surprise to me. But not for this one. Not to me! For this one, was one of my personal favorites from the moment I heard it. It transported me back to the time driving around Norway for a certain article about cars and the Molde Jazz festival. That was helluva lot of fun! But driving the Atlantic Road with this album on would have been so much better! It shines in all its psychedelic goodness and moves into a slightly darker realm, in regards to their earlier release, without ever becoming oppressive. It actually sounds extremely wide with all the wonderful vistas they evoke. And with so much room for all the instruments and voice to excel, it leaves you breathless. And that is exactly what they do best, that wonderful translation of the  sensation of a massive open expanse into heavy psychedelic rock and making it weave through your head and heart. It is a leisurely majestic, yet urgent trek across a mountains terrain which moves the soul and inspires the spirit at every turn...

Red Mountains – Slow Wander

Number 7

Number 7

The fat ass Wo Fat album Midnight Cometh made it to Number 8 of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2016. We have already passed so many good albums. What hell is still to come? Well, on Number 7 we find an album released early this year. An album by a band that made the Number One spot before and has always inspired controversy among fans. Sixteen points above Wo Fat we find a band that has been doing so since their inception sixteen years ago. Wow, how’s that for poetic justice. Well, new members a plenty and with only the man responsible for forming the band back in 2000 as the only member of old around, they continue the sound of their 2012 album. But everyone must be pleased with its more organic take on that sound and the darker and doomier approach. And judging from the amount of votes, the solos, the furious backbeats, the stoner breakdowns, the psychedelic minimalism, the doomed march, the long winded stretch and all else that surrounds and whirls around the core of this album has struck a chord with everyone out there. And, if this album has not really turned you on, maybe their next will, cause they don’t go around repeating themselves…

Witchcraft – Nucleus

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Number 7

Number 7

“Cake? Who needs cake? I’d rather guzzle drink and put other stuff up my nose!” ~ Keith Richards

Two points above Goatsnake on Number 8 we find a trio that has been aweing fans all across the world with their stage performance and stunning shows. And the albums did well as well. Reaching Number 2 back in 2012 and Number 5 in 2013. But for some reason they never completely lived up to their live concerts. This one perhaps is closer to that awesome truth. Or as Madman Tony Maim put it back in September: “Thank fuck, these Germans have come up with new killer riffs, cool song compositions and a slightly more polished production sound which has expanded their sonic horizons, meaning the tracks sound massive and rock like a bastard.” No extra words needed. Check out Number 7!

Kadavar – Berlin

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The cake was specially baked and handcrafted by WDG! 

If you need a cake, WDG is the place to run to!

 

Number 7

Number 7

“The return of a very old brand of blended whisky from one of Canada's former biggest multi-nationals. Nose: Juicy, spicy rye grains, dried apricot, lemon curd, oak and gristy sweetness. Palate: Spicy and creamy, medium-bodied with honey, caramel and coffee. A touch of orange marmalade and panna cotta. Finish: Medium length, spicy and sweet.”

On Number 7 we find the final album that stays in close proximity to the ones that came before. Beating Truckfighters with one simple point these cats have been surfing the desert and stoner waves for a damn long time now and the release this year is their eleventh album. No Swedes this time, but Californian stoners that go big the way of the fuzz and crackling and crunchy when it comes to the punchy riffs. And then there are those punky elements and dreamy moments that make it all come together like a perfect ride. Southern coolness amongst hot and heavy breezes…

Fu Manchu – Gigantoid

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Number 7

Number 7

 

“Most breweries have at least one piece of equipment that’s just a bit persnickity. At Boulevard they have fermenter number seven, the black sheep of the cellar family. Ironically, when the brewers were experimenting with variations on a traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale, the perfect combination of elements came together in that very vessel. You could call it fate, but they called it Tank 7, and so it is. Beginning with a big surge of fruity aromatics and grapefruit-hoppy notes, the flavor of this complex, straw-colored ale tapers off to a peppery, dry finish.”

 

As mentioned in the post about Kylesa’s Ultraviolet album that made it to the Number 8 position we now jump 26 points to make it to Number 7. The funbunch that stars on the bottom position of the five frontrunners has also made the list in 2011 when their album reached the Number 5 position. And on this album, their third, they show us that the can also get gritty and swampy but with much more depth and height. For this album goes the way of the sumo and leaves behind of some of the melodies and humor we knew from their earlier work. Heavier, fatter, darker and much sludgier. They are hear to blow out and suck you empty! Errr?!

 

 

 

Red Fang - Whales and Leeches 

 

 

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Number 7

Number 7

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” Revelation 17:8

From Royal Thunder we move three points towards the next entry; another debut album and once again these freaks hail from Sweden. Seeped in mystery and tradition the album speaks of haunting tales, ancient myths and tribalistic rituals. Through a colorful mixture of kraut and space rock, enchanting percussion, eastern influences and mesmerizing vocals we are treated to magical voodoo music. Spells are cast and transport towards a psychedelic and occult delirium. It’s a necromancers rejoice at bringing to life long lost music, the visions and the waves of emotions that belong to it. And besides all that it also strikes a chord in the hearts of the most reckless; for it is a vague and distant call to arms for all those who on some level detest the way life in the western world is shaping up to become. Join in with the slaughtering!

Goat – World Music

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Number 7

“这些人是易爆的象原子弹!”

"These guys are explosive like an atom bomb! "

Number 7

Flirting with progressive and symphonic rock, offering up seemingly musical anarchy, dishing out the best of psychedelic waves, serving hardrock from the sixties and seventies and glazing it all with a nice layer of stoner and a hefty groove to put out a prime example of free rock for all to hear and appreciate. One track, no more, no less. But one track of pure blissful madness and seemingly endless adventures. Over fifty impossibly sweet riffs, unparalleled basswork and a drummer with more variation then the amount of animals on planet earth and still functioning as the glue that holds it all together. It’s grooving to a high musical wave, destined for far away lands and forever rolling and gushing and crashing. It’s so good it’s almost a criminal act not to be swept of your feet by this record. So you’d better get on board; otherwise you might get arrested by the fuzz, local or otherwise…

The Atomic Bitchwax - The Local Fuzz

Number 7

Number 7

We have arrived at the third album on the deduced list that was actually on my own one as well and one of my many highlights during Roadburn 2010. Somewhere Some Woman still pours out of my speakers every day… And with his sun-dried tones and wise words he warms our souls every time. And it seems like his mythical persona is ever growing and that he’s becoming an even bigger guru. Its his voice; his warm and complete matter of fact uttering. With his laid-back tunes he guides us through his tried rock method. A dash of Jimi Hendrix, a truckload of soul and funk, wise words which could also be uttered by Bob Marley and an attitude straight from the skater and surf community. And even though it only reminds us vaguely of what Kyuss did in the past; it still is, or maybe even more; archetypal stonerrock. Now; here’s me hoping spring will come to the Netherlands soon; so that we too may enjoy these great tunes of master Brant outside in the sun… (And what will the new Kyuss Lives record sound like? Now there’s a question that nobody could have envisioned asking a year ago!)

Brant Bjork - Gods & Goddesses

Brant Bjork